Can't make up my mind on "where in the Caymans"

[keyshunter]

We save LC for our summer vacation because the winter weather in LC is always a question for diving the best sight. We also heard that LC is having alot of their dive sites moorings removed to give their reefs a rest this winter. We rent a private condo in LC and dive with Reef Divers @ LC Beach Resort.

Have great trip....[/QUOTE]

I just returned from Little Cayman. I was told that 11 of the 22 moorings in the Marine Park are scheduled to be removed. Considering that Agressor and Nekton spend a lot of time hanging out there, that doesn't allow a lot of flexibility for the various resorts' boats to moor on park sites.

 

[WarrenZ]

Do what I am going to do; go on a livaboard that will take you to two or all three of the islands that way you can try a little of them all.

 

[jdcpa]

We too are big fans of LCBR and Reeef Divers. Conch Club divers are great as well. The wall there is just beautiful. A great experience.

I think the talk of removing moorings is just that at this point. From what I can gather there is some talk of "Resting" some of the dive sites. No decisions have been made from what I understand. Also, it appears that any decision won't be reached for at least another six months or so.

I could be wrong about that, but I get it from residents of the island. Take it for what it is worth. The only way we will know for sure is when the moorings come out, until then it is pure rumor.

 

[-hh]

I think the talk of removing moorings is just that at this point. From what I can gather there is some talk of "Resting" some of the dive sites. No decisions have been made from what I understand. Also, it appears that any decision won't be reached for at least another six months or so.

I could be wrong about that, but I get it from residents of the island. Take it for what it is worth. The only way we will know for sure is when the moorings come out, until then it is pure rumor.

When I was down on-island last month, and the Dept of Environment workboat (a Newton) was present in the Sister Islands and conducting mooring maintenance. Its not usually present at this time of year.

As per my (multiple) local sources, the DoE has discussed their closure plans with the Dive Operations and have a mooring list. The Dive Ops are effectively waiting for DoE to make an official announcement, and since it will mean fewer "famous sites" for them, they're naturally reluctant to mention anything about it to customers.

The general talk is of a 5-7 year timeframe (and more than just 11 sites on LC). Personally, I expect them have to divide their list into thirds and start a ~2 year rest period rotation, because if they take any more than that number of moorings out of service at once, they can run into the problem of having more diveboats than moorings in the Bloody Bay / Jackson's marine park, which isn't good for business.

The moorings in question have gone 20 years of constant use, and IMO they clearly declined significantly in health/quality 5-10 years ago: a forced rest is very much overdue.


-hh